


Stan's Not a Babysitter

by thefrights



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, it might be ooc im sorry, the reddie is really minor im sorry, theyre around 16/17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 19:16:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20662358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefrights/pseuds/thefrights
Summary: Stan really wasn’t good with children. But he was good with Bill. The two had been best friends since the day they met. Though unspoken, it was undeniably true that they relied on each other, idolized each other. Stan wouldn't do half the shit he does if it wasn’t for Bill.





	Stan's Not a Babysitter

If Stan knew anything, it was that he wasn’t good with children. His sense of humor didn’t often line up with those his age, let alone kids younger than him.

-

The group of teens sat at their designated lunch table. Richie, Beverly, and Eddie were arguing over the ethics behind skipping class. Ben and Mike were discussing their ap us history test. Bill looked around the cafeteria, waiting for Stan to show up. Stan was almost always late to lunch due to his ap calculus class. His teacher was notorious for ignoring the bell. 

“We on for movie night? My mom’s allowing me to stay the night,” it was rare for Ms. Kaspbrak to allow him to stay away from home for more than a few hours at a time. Bill groaned, “Pa-parents are go-gone for the weekend,” he was cut off by his friends cheers. “I’m no-not allowed to ha-have everyone ov-over,” he glares at Richie, Eddie, and Beverly, “you’ve be-been deemed as ba-bad influences on G-Georgie.” 

“I’m al-allowed to have on-one friend over wh-while I babysit.” The bad influences were obviously not a part of Bill’s invitation. 

Mike shook his head. “I gotta work all weekend. sorry man,” he was the most responsible of the losers. He worked on the farm quite often so it was no surprise he couldn’t hang out. 

Bill looked towards Ben, hoping they could binge watch their movies the whole weekend. Every other weekend or so, they would watch romantic comedies in secret. “I’m visiting my grandma. my parents are tired of me always being out, of me actually having friends.” 

Of course, the group that loved each other all had parents that didn't want them hanging out. Half of their houses were banned as a hang out place. 

Bill looked towards the last remaining loser. Stan really wasn’t good with children. But he was good with Bill. The two had been best friends since the day they met. Though unspoken, it was undeniably true that they relied on each other, idolized each other. Stan wouldn't do half the shit he does if it wasn’t for Bill. 

Bill called out to Stan for the third time, trying to snap him out of his own head. “St-Stan? Wanna st-stay with me and G-Georgie?” Stan snapped back to life, “Huh?! O-oh! Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun,” he laughed nervously. An entire weekend with just Bill. The two boys haven’t had one-on-one time in so long. Stan felt butterflies in his stomach and tried his best to swallow them. 

The losers brushed off Stan’s silence, he was the quietest of the group after all. They had an ongoing joke that he would perform monologues in his head rather than talk. Which, yes, it was true, but the others didn’t need to know that.

-

Bill gave Stan an open invitation at the end of the school day. “Pa-pack whatever you wa-want and co-come over when-whenever you’re ready.” Bill always just told the others to come over whenever. ‘He’s so friendly and kind, opening his door to all of our friends...’ 

Except for this weekend, it was just Stan, which was what made him so nervous. It was just Stan to walk into the house, to stay up until odd hours of the night, joking around. “It’s not a big deal. Stop thinking it’s a big deal. You’re just hanging out without everyone else. You’ve been friends for years. You’re just keeping him company while he watches his brother,” his mumbles were barely audible. 

Stan walked home, fighting the thought of sharing the bed with Bill. Every time the losers had a sleepover at the Denbrough house, Eddie was the one to crawl into Bill’s bed. He claimed there was too much dust on the floor and couldn’t possibly be that close to a sleeping Richie. Stan shook his head, “I'm not jealous!” he yelled to no one in particular. Maybe he was jealous. He’d never admit to it, regardless if it was true or not. 

-

After an hour of packing, unpacking, and repacking, as well as convincing his parents with a vague excuse as to why he’ll be gone all weekend, Stan left for the Denbrough household. 

Bill’s parents had left before the school day was even over. They didn’t leave many rules behind except for banning Richie. They loved him but didn’t want him too close to Georgie, he swore way too often. Beverly and Eddie were technically allowed but they often work as a trio, so Bill took the liberty and banned them himself.

Stan arrived at the house and knocked, hearing two pairs of feet racing towards the door. His heart began to pound in his chest. ‘Damn these nerves,’ the teen cursed himself. The younger brother swung the door open and grinned, “my favorite is here! Stanley!” 

Stan laughed, giving Georgie a high five. “Don’t you dare tell Beverly you said that! She’d kill me!” Stan couldn’t help but smile after hearing Georgie’s declaration of love. It put him at ease, knowing that they barely had to babysit Georgie. He was ten years old and mostly occupied himself. They were just there to keep him safe. 

-

The three boys got comfortable in the house that was more silent than Stan was used to. Georgie was in his room, leaving the two teens to have the living room. It was supposed to be a movie night, with Ben, Beverly, and Eddie hogging the couch and the others on the floor, huddled in front of Bill’s television, watching whatever the designated loser chose. 

Stan was almost waiting to hear a joke about Eddie’s mother and quietly laughed to himself. 

“Wh-what’s up?” Bill asked, amused by Stanley’s sudden laughter. 

“It’s weird. I feel like Eddie and Richie should be arguing like a married couple right about now.”

Bill agreed, “Be-Ben would b-be sharing some ra-random fact ab-about Maine while Mike de-debates if it’s tr-true or not,”

“Oh and then there’s the age-old fight of who gets the remote! Technically it should be yours because it’s your house, duh.” 

They shared a smile before a comfortable silence fell upon them. 

“He-hey Stan?” Bill glanced at his friend, “when yo-you go qu-quiet, what do-do you usually th-think about?” Stan sat for a moment while his mind screamed at him. ‘You! All I think about is you, Bill! How perfect you are, how handsome you are! How I wish it was always like this, just us!’

“I guess I reflect a lot about us, th-the losers, I mean. How we all work as a team, a group of friends.” He hoped that that answer would be satisfying enough. He had no plans of telling anyone about his thoughts of Bill any time soon, especially not Bill. In fact, most nights, Stan wished these thoughts would leave his head. It wasn’t okay to feel this way about another boy, especially not one so out of his league. 

Bill studied stan before nodding, not pressing him for any other answers. He knew that if Stan had something to tell him, he would. Well, he hoped that was true anyway. Sure they were best friends but it wasn’t very often they would sit down and have emotional discussions. 

-

Shortly after getting a pizza delivered for dinner, the house phone began to ring. Bill got up to answer it and heard an all too familiar accent through the speaker. 

“Hola señor, is your, how you say, refrigerator running?”

“Ri-Richie, you’re a ch-child. And I'm he-here, with an ac-actual child.”

Richie gasped, causing Eddie and Beverly to giggle, “Big B-B-Bill! that’s no way to talk about Stanley! you be nice to that boy!”

Bill laughed and rolled his eyes, holding the phone out so Stan could join in on the conversation. “Your accents are awful, trashmouth. There’s a reason you aren’t here tonight, you know,”

Richie faked a sob, crying out to Stan. “How could my only true love treat me in such a way?!”

“I tho-thought Bev was your tr-true love,”

“No! Stan the man and Eds are my true loves!” Eddies yells of protest could be heard in the background as well as exaggerated kissing noises. 

Beverly grabbed the phone from Richie and giggled, “We just wanted to check in on you guys. If you can, we’re planning on hanging out at the quarry tomorrow, around noon. bring Georgie!”

“So-sounds like a pl-plan. Goodnight! do-don’t let Eddie k-kill Richie, that’s m-my job.”

The trio said their goodbyes and hung up, leaving Stan and Bill alone once again. The silence around them wasn’t awkward but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either. 

Stan thought about how Richie acted, so touchy and affectionate. He hung onto others and hugged them and got in their faces. He began to think about what it would be like to cling to Bill the way Richie grabs Eddie or Beverly or even Mike and Ben. It was normal for Richie to act that way, that’s just who he is. Stan could only imagine the strange looks he’d receive from his friends if he did such things. 

Stan remembered he was standing in Bill’s living room, absentmindedly staring at his host for the night. “Did you know that ants can’t take fall damage?” he caught Bill's attention with another one of his many facts. “They fall too slowly for it to hurt them, let alone kill them.”

-

The rest of the night continued with stan telling Bill random tidbits of information, each fact just a bit weirder than the last. 

Bill loved listening to stan talk, especially when there were no interruptions. Georgie had gone to bed hours ago and the two sat on the couch, Stan finally allowing himself to talk. He was always so quiet, Bill couldn’t help but feel honored that he got to hear some of Stan’s thoughts. 

It wasn’t until Bill yawned that the boys realized they should probably go to sleep. He glanced at the clock before smiling, “Ge-getting pretty la-late, huh?” Bill pulled himself off the couch and put out his hand for Stan. it was 2:47 in the morning. they had talked all night. Stan felt his face grow hot as he took Bill’s hand, getting off the couch. 

They walked down the hall and towards the room that Stan had slept on the floor of countless times. “Si-since it’s just u-us, we can sh-share the b-bed. If yo-you’re okay with th-that,” Bill offered, not thinking much of the situation. Stan’s voice cracked as he responded. “Y-yeah that could work,” he thought about how he could really use Eddie’s inhaler right about now. 

The teens got changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. Stan was thankful that it was pitch black in his best friend’s bedroom. His eyes were wide open as he lay as still as possible on his back, Bill lying on his side. Both boys were awake but neither spoke. 

Bill cleared his throat. “St-Stan...you’re sh-shaking…” he turned to face his friend. He could only somewhat make out the outline of Stan’s face but he knew that the other teen still looked beautiful, the way he always did. 

“Bill I…” Stan swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut. ‘Just tell him. Just tell him. He’ll either hate you or forget it, just stop holding it in.’ His thoughts were racing. ‘It’s not okay, none of this is right. You’re disgusting, Stanley.’

A choked sob escaped stan. Bill wrapped his arms around him, holding him close. “Yo-you don’t ha-have to tell m-me. You’re o-okay, Stan. Yo-you’re safe. You ha-have me.”

Bill’s grasp only made Stan cry more. He felt so small, so pathetic. He wasn’t supposed to act like this.

“I...Bill. I l-love you. I'm sorry. I understand if you hate me, I know it’s dis-“ Bill cut him off, not with words, but with a kiss on the forehead. “Yo-you’re perfect, St-Stan. get so-some rest, okay?” Stan sighed and nodded, unsure of what to say. he rubbed his eyes and relaxed into his friend’s arms. 

Bill left the room silent, hoping that Stan would be alright. He knew that three in the morning wasn’t exactly the ideal time for a conversation like this. As Stan’s breathing became more steady, he whispered, “I love you, too. Goodnight.”

Stan could only nod, hoping he heard Bill correctly.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic ever wah sorry


End file.
